A mum-of-two was baffled when her pricey bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin turned out to contain nothing stronger than WATER.
Jessica Pegg, 41, spent £17 on the trendy tipple from Asda and was looking forward to a refreshing gin and tonic.
But when she poured herself a drink she couldn’t taste any alcohol – and discovered the iconic blue bottle was simply full of water.
Jessica is convinced the bottle was sealed and had a security tag on when she bought it from Asda in Bedminister, Bristol.
She said: “As a mum with two young children I don’t drink often at all.
“I sat down with a gin and tonic and just assumed I hadn’t put very much gin in.
“But then I came to have another over the weekend and I put the gin on top of the tonic and I prepared myself for a strong first sip.
“But when it came to it I couldn’t taste anything.
“Then I went back to the bottle and sniffed it and tasted it, and it turned out it was just water.
“I think I was just a bit surprised and I’m baffled really.
“Essentially I have bought a really expensive bottle of water.
“In some ways it is quite funny, but at the same time £17 is quite a lot for gin, so it is a little annoying.
“Having just had my second child I am a bit scatty, but I would like to think that both myself or the checkout person would have noticed of the seal or the tag had been broken.”
Jessica, who works in advertising, bought the bottle on January 15 but did not open it until a few weeks ago.
She went back to Asda to tell staff of the alleged mix-up but wasn’t refunded.
“They said they couldn’t give me a refund and I fully understand why, but I just wanted to let them know and to be aware,” she added.
“I don’t know how it happened, my best guess would be either someone swapped the contents at the factory or at the shop, but who knows.”
A spokesperson for Bombay Sapphire said : “The Bombay Spirits Company LTD prides itself on being creators of gin of exceptional quality.
“All production processes are heavily controlled and monitored to ensure that the product is at the correct alcoholic strength as defined by regulatory requirements; and it is not possible for water to reach the bottle in our production processes.
“We have received no correspondence on this issue, but as it has now been highlighted to us, we would like to investigate this further, and would kindly request the return of the bottle.
“If you have any concerns about a Bombay Spirits Company LTD product, you can contact consumerrelations@bacardi.com, or call 01962 762227.”
An Asda Spokesperson said: “These bottles arrive with us sealed and leave us sealed so we can’t understand how this could have happened.
“We know Ms Pegg is returning the bottle to Bombay Sapphire directly, but we’re keen to help her get to the bottom of it and will do anything else we can to help.”
